Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Niger State, Prof. Samuel Gabriel Egwu, has called for the unbundling of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), so that the commission will face squarely its major assignment of conducting a free, fair, credible and acceptable elections in the country.
Prof. Egwu made the call in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Monday, while speaking with newsmen.
The INEC boss said the functions of the Commission were too much for one organisation to handle in a country as vast as Nigeria.
He suggested that the Commission should be made to face the task of solely managing and administering elections which, according to him, is enough a responsibility for a body like INEC.
He highlighted some of the functions of the commission to include registration of political parties, regulate and monitor political parties including their finances, carrying out sound knowledge of democratic society , registration of voters and updating of voters register on a continuous basis and preparing ballot boxes .
The university don, therefore, advocated the need to create a new and dedicated body out of the present INEC that will take care of the heavy burden and responsibilities of the commission such as the aspects of registration and regulating of political parties .
According to him , “prosecuting electoral offenses is another major task that involved the police and other institutions of justice administration which, ordinarily, the Commission should not be saddled with.”
On the forthcoming 2019 general elections, the Kwara REC said that INEC had moved Nigeria’s electoral process to a point where Nigerians cannot demand for anything less, but rather better elections. Hence, the need for collaboration of all stakeholders while the Commission itself must behave truly as an unbiased umpire.
Prof. Egwu also charged INEC to prepare well for logistics and appropriate technology for the coming polls to create a better election while the electorate must demand better elections than those of previous years.
Answering another question, the INEC commissioner said in keeping with the principles of federalism, it was good to allow states’ Independent Electoral Commissions to stay but suggested that they have to be reformed the way INEC was reformed at the national level so that they would meet the expectations of the Nigerian people in terms of conducting a free and fair elections.